dinosaurs at a glance

Dinosaurs were lizardlike reptiles that lived on Earth for more than 150 million years. The word dinosaur means “terrible lizard.” Remains or traces of dinosaurs were first discovered in the early 1800s. They show that dinosaurs ranged in size from being smaller than a chicken to being more than 10 times larger than the largest elephant. From studying these remains, scientists think that dinosaurs were the ancient relatives of today’s crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and birds.

Below is a guide to some well-known dinosaurs. The first section groups dinosaurs by type. The second section groups them by the time period during which they lived. Each name links to an article about that dinosaur.

Scientists have divided dinosaurs into two large groups. The groups are based on the way a dinosaur’s hip bones were shaped. One group is the Saurischia, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs. The other group is the Ornithischia, or bird-hipped dinosaurs. The lists here group dinosaurs by the main subgroups within each group.

Saurischia (Lizard-hipped Dinosaurs)

Members of the Saurischia are called saurischians. They had hips that look like the hips of today’s reptiles. But they also had some features in common with today’s birds. The saurischians are divided into two subgroups: the plant-eating Sauropodomorpha and the meat-eating Theropoda.

Sauropod

Some common characteristics of the sauropods were that they ate plants, walked on four legs, and had long necks. The sauropods were the largest of all the dinosaurs.

Ornithischia (Bird-hipped Dinosaurs)

Members of the Ornithischia are called ornithischians. They had hips shaped like the hips of today’s birds. However, today’s birds are not related to these dinosaurs. All ornithischians were plant eaters. They are divided into two subgroups: the Cerapoda and the Thyreophora.

Cerapod

The cerapods include the duck-billed dinosaurs, the great horned dinosaurs, and the dome-headed dinosaurs.

Thyreophora

Dinosaurs lived from about 245 to 65.5 million years ago. They were common during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous geologic time periods. These three periods were part of the Mesozoic era. The era is also called the Age of Reptiles because it is when reptiles ruled Earth. The lists here group dinosaurs by the geologic time period when they lived out most of their existence.

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